


Tough Love Or Kill Them With Kindness

by A_New_Believer



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: A couple appearances, Hope's not bad but she's a bit spoilt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 20:34:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16103297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_New_Believer/pseuds/A_New_Believer
Summary: After Regina puts Hope in her place after acting out at Lucy’s birthday, the young girl finds a small amount of comfort and guidance in Alice, despite having disliked her for so long.





	Tough Love Or Kill Them With Kindness

   “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Lucy! Happy birthday to you!”

   Everyone ended the song with a loud cheer and a thunderous round of applause as Lucy leaned forward and blew out the candles on her cake. When she stepped back, she grinned and looked around at all the faces of her friends and family surrounding her. Days like today reminded her of her eighth birthday, but this time, the celebrations were not ruined by the arrival of a group of nasty witches intent of bringing back her step aunt in order to make everyone else as miserable as she was.

   However… It wasn’t quite perfect.

   At least not since Hope arrived.

   It just seemed the young girl was just not used to not being the centre of attention.

   “Can I have some cake now?” Hope moaned impatiently.

   “Honey, wait.” Emma said, far too gently to do any good. “Let Lucy have the first piece.”

   Hope moaned again, stomping her feet and huffing angrily. Killian tried to pull her aside but she broke free of his light grip and took a step forward so she was almost as close to the cake as Lucy was. She watched closely as Lucy accepted the knife from her mother and moved to make the first cut on the smooth creamy icing. She was very careful about it, dipping the knife into the centre of the brilliant sponge, trying to make sure every cut was neat and even so everyone would get their fair share of her cake.

   “Come on!” Hope snapped, losing whatever restraint she had given herself and reaching to snatch the knife from her older niece.

   “Enough, Hope!” Regina snapped, appearing beside her and sharply slapping her hand before she could reach out all the way.

   “Regina!” Emma snapped, rushing forward.

   “I’m sorry, Emma. But if you won’t say something then I will!” Regina snapped, turning back to the young girl, now bitterly rubbing the back of her hand. “You listen to me, Hope Swan Jones. This party is not for you. You are a guest and you will act like one. You don’t get first say, you don’t get first bite, you don’t get first anything. You get to watch, celebrate and be happy for Lucy. That is all. If you can’t do that then tell your parents now so they can take you home so you don’t spoil today for everyone else. Are we clear?”

   Hope blinked in surprise, glancing back at her parents for help but neither of them immediately stood up for her like she had expected them to. In fact, they actually looked quite guilty and helpless. That hurt more than Regina’s telling off or her slap combined.

   Looking around the rest of the room, Hope was despaired to see no one was going to stand up for her. Her! She had never been told off before and if she was, she was sure everyone would stand up for her. Or at least she assumed everyone would. It wasn’t exactly something she ever thought she would have to wonder about. Again, she’d never been told off before! So now the young girl was suddenly in a unsure state of shock. And when no one came to rescue her... Hope didn’t know what else to do.

   So she ran.

   She turned around and ran from the diner, away from everyone watching her and away from everyone who didn’t care enough to stand up for her. She heard her father call her name and her mother began fighting with Regina but she didn’t care about either of them. She didn’t care about anything except that she’d been told off and no one had stood up for her and that wasn’t fair! She’d only wanted some silly cake!

   As everyone else watched Hope go, unsure of how else to react, one other person stood up. Immediately her wife followed her, grabbing her hand and pulling her to a stop. “Let her go.” She said. “She needed a wakeup call.”

   The first woman, Alice, bit her lip, glancing from her love to the door. Without a word being said, Robin sighed and gave Alice a soft smile, letting her go. She knew her wife far too well by now. Even if a person wasn’t worth it, Alice was far too kind hearted not to try and help them.

   “Thank you.” Alice whispered, leaning over and kissing Robin’s cheek softly before she dashed to the door after Hope. She skipped around where Emma and Regina were now in a loud fight over Regina being too harsh and Emma being too soft, and slipped out the door without anyone batting an eye her way.

   Outside, the streets had an orange glow of the sunset resting over them and it was almost completely deserted, what with everyone either home or behind Alice in Granny’s celebrating Lucy’s birthday. As Alice started jogging down out of Granny’s front gates, she briefly paused to give a silent prayer that Lucy didn’t take this mess too personally. It really was unfair her birthday was ruined like this. Maybe her parents would make it up to her by taking her out tomorrow or something. If not, Alice would be happy to take her out on her papa’s ship, maybe with Robin and a few others. They could make a real day of it!

   But that was something to be dealt with tomorrow. For now, Alice needed to find Hope.

   It didn’t take her long.

   Hope was pretty predictable when it came down to it and Alice rounded the final corner to find her sat down in the corner of the local park, back pressed against the mental bars and knees drawn to her chest. Her lip was quivering and her eyes were wet, but she wasn’t sobbing like Alice had expected her to be. That was a good sign at least.

   Alice walked slowly around to the gate and let herself in. It was late and there was no one else about at the moment. That was good. It would give them a small amount of privacy that Alice was sure Hope would prefer.

   Hope didn’t notice her approaching, staring off angrily into space in front of her and only realising she was no longer alone with Alice’s shadow slipped into her view at her feet. By the time she looked up, Alice was already standing by her side, smiling softly down at her. She hesitated as Hope immediately scowled back, wondering if it was even worth sitting down or if Hope would simply get up and run if she did. After a second, Alice lift her hand and waved slightly, raising an eyebrow as if silently asking Hope if she was allowed to stay.

   “What do you want?” Hope snapped.

   “I just figured you might want to talk...” Alice said slowly, lowering her hand back to her side.

   “Why would I want to talk to you?” Hope sneered.

   Alice shrugged, glancing around. “Cause there’s no one else here.”

   “I’d rather be alone than talk to you!” Hope snarled.

   Alice sighed and started to turn away. Then paused and looked back at her. She looked so miserable, curled up in a ball and pouting at the swing set in front of her. She even still had a few tears clouding her eyes.

   With a second, deeper sigh, Alice turned back to the younger girl once more. “Regina only told you off because it was Lucy’s big day. It wasn’t fair of you to try and make it about you.”

   “I wasn’t making it about me!” Hope snapped. “And what would you know, anyway? You love being centre of attention!”

   “What are you talking about?” Alice blinked.

   “Ever since you came back to Storybrooke, you’ve just been all anyone can talk about!” Hope snapped. “I used to be popular before you came along and ruined everything! Oh, Alice is a powerful magic user. Oh, Alice is getting married. Oh, Alice has prophecies. Oh, Alice is so special. Alice is so great. Alice. Alice. Alice, ALICE!”

   “Hope...” Alice asked slowly. “Are you jealous of me?”

   “Why would you think I was jealous of you.” Hope snorted, turning away from her and blinking away the tears as best as she could.

   “Well... Because you just said I get all the attention you clearly want?” Alice said lightly, trying to add some humour to a situation that was currently making her stomach knot. It made her so uncomfortable knowing that the reason Hope had always been so stuck up to her, was just because the poor girl felt Alice was taking away something from her first.

   “Oh go away! Not everything’s about you!” Hope screamed.

   “I know it’s not. Right now it’s about you.” Alice said, boldly taking a seat beside her. “So why don’t we talk about you.” She smiled softly. “You know, I’m jealous of you.”

   “You are?” Hope blinked, her annoyed expression at Alice sitting beside her fading for one of confusion to take its place almost immediately. “Why?” She frowned. “It’s not like I have anything special. I mean... I can’t do magic or prophecies or... Stuff.” She finished lamely.

   “Magic’s not that great.” Alice shrugged. “I’d much rather have a mum and dad who love me like you have.”

   Hope hesitated, then shrugged. “You pretty much do anyway. You have your dad. And Rumplestiltskin acts like you’re his kid anyway. And Tiana’s always hanging around like a surrogate mother or whatever. It’s not like you’re missing out.”

   “Well neither are you.” Alice shrugged. “Magic brings trouble. And you have other things to make you special.”

   “Oh yeah? Like what?” Hope scowled.

   “Like how pretty you are.” Alice noted cheerfully. “And how you’re a quick thinker. And you’re really funny. I’ve seen how you can make other people laugh.”

   “Oh yeah, making people laugh is totally the same as magic.” Hope scowled.

   Alice leaned back, shaking her head. “Hope, if I could give you my magic, I would. I don’t like having it half the time.”

   “Oh boo hoo!” Hope snapped, glaring at her. “It must be so hard being so special!”

   “You’re special too, Hope.” Alice stressed.

   “Not anymore. Not since you and Lucy and everyone else came back.” Hope pouted.

   “Us being around doesn’t take away from you, Hope.” Alice said, turning to face her properly, sitting on her knees. “In fact, it just makes more people to appreciate you, is all.”

   “Lucy doesn’t. She always avoids me and rolls her eyes whenever I talk.” Hope scowled.

   Alice smiled softly, reaching over and gently poking Hope’s side like she did to Lucy often enough, surprising the younger girl. “Maybe that’s cause you try and snatch the knife out of her hand at her own birthday party.” Alice sat back and gave Hope a concerned look. “How would you feel if she did that to you on your birthday? Bet it’d upset you to be upstaged on your big day.”

   “She was taking too long!” Hope snapped.

   “Well why shouldn’t she? It’s her day.” Alice shrugged.

   Hope hesitated, finding herself unable to argue. So instead she changed subject. “Well Regina shouldn’t have yelled at me like that! She may be Queen but she isn’t my mum!”

   “I think she was just standing up for Lucy.” Alice explained. “Cause your mum doesn’t really like telling you off.”

   “She still shouldn’t have shouted at me in front of everyone!” Hope snapped.

   “She was standing up for Lucy.” Alice repeatedly patiently. “You’d want someone to stand up for you, right?”

   “Yeah but...” Hope stalled, letting out and angry growl. She reached to the gate behind her, pulling out strands of grass and throwing them out in front of her. “It’s not fair! I don’t like being told off!”

   Alice smiled, turning to lean back against the gate. “Easy then. Don’t do anything naughty to get told off for.”

   Hope glared at her but Alice just kept smiling. Finally Hope’s glare faltered and she looked away again, rewrapping her arms around her legs and hugging herself.

   “Hope... I hate it when you’re sad.” Alice said gently. “Regina doesn’t mean to upset you but sometimes you can be a little unfair to others like Lucy and... Well... Regina’s just making sure you grow up to be as good as you can be. Because she knows what it’s like to fall in the other direction. I know your mum means well... But I don’t think she gets how easy it is to fall dark like Regina does.”

   Hope glanced at her from the corner of her eye. “Why do you even care? Why do you always have to be so nice and perfect all the time? I hate you. You make me look bad.” She mumbled.

   “No one’s perfect, Hope. Least of all me.” Alice explained. “I have these... Well, I have these bad days...” She paused before going on. “I thought I’d just have them in Hyperion Heights but they’ve kind of continued. I’m not sure if it’s an after effect of the curse, or something else but sometimes I think the things I see mess with my head. And so do the nightmares and stuff. It’s hard to explain, but when I have these bad days, I want to hide away and I get so angry at everyone. I’m really tense all day, sometimes all week, and I’m afraid everyone will hate me for it. But they never do, because they know I’m trying. Robin stays with me in bed if it’s what I want and papa brings me sweets and stuff to help. And sometimes they help and sometimes they don’t.”

   “I didn’t know that.” Hope whispered.

   “Yeah. There’s other stuff too.” Alice shrugged. “But it’s no big deal. Everyone has flaws. Robin thinks I’m too nice sometimes... Papa thinks I’m too naive about the good in other people though he’d deny it if I asked.” She looked at Hope. “And you think I’m an attention seeker.”

   Hope stared at Alice for a long moment of silence, then looked down at her feet over her knees. “People think I’m selfish. But I don’t mean to be. I just like it when people like me.”

   “People do like you Hope.” Alice smiled. “And they’d like you even more if you just relaxed around them and didn’t try and steal birthday parties.”

   “Oh get over it!” Hope snapped. “How many times are you going to keep bringing that up?!”

   Alice grinned. “Until you go apologise to Lucy. Maybe if you do, Regina will apologise to you, too.”

   Hope seemed to think it over before sighing. She stood up and dusted herself off, then turned impatiently to Alice. “Well? Are you coming or are you gonna sit here like a hobo?”

   Baby steps, Alice told herself, standing and nodding for Hope to lead the way back to Granny’s diner.

* * *

    Everyone fell silent as Hope strode back into the building with Alice trailing behind. The young girl walked as if she were on a stage and made her way straight up to where Lucy was sat between her parents, a slice of cake balanced on her knees. She looked up and held back a grimace as the younger girl approached, wishing Hope would just go home and let her enjoy her party already.

   “What happened?” Robin whispered as Alice returned to her side. But the other girl just smiled and put a finger to her lips.

   “Lucy, I wanted to apologise.” Hope said loudly. “I was very rude. It won’t happen again, I promise. Happy birthday.”

   “Oh... Um... Thanks, Hope.” Lucy blinked.

   Hope smiled, then turned to where her parents were beaming at her proudly. She started towards them and paused in front of Regina, glancing sideways at her.

   The older woman crossed her arms, smiling. “That’s good to hear, Hope. Now ask nicely and I’m sure Granny will be happy to cut you a slice of cake.”

   And just like that, all tension from the room died as Alice turned back to Robin, still smiling. Lucy continued eating her slice while Henry finished telling Ruby and Dorothy the story of Lucy’s first word (“‘curses’ of all words!”) and Snow and David started laughing at the expressions on Grumpy’s face from something that happened before the girls return. Rogers wandered over to where Robin and Alice sat, settling down on the seat in front of them and sharing out three glasses of red punch for them to toast to along with a few other people.

   “Cheers!” The three laughed, holding their glasses out with everyone else.

   “So what did you say to Hope?” Robin asked, taking a sip.

   Before Alice could reply, Hope appeared by her side. She slapped a hand on the table and scowled at her, but already Robin could see this scowl wasn’t nearly as intense as it normally was. Something had definitely happened between the two of them and it was driving the young archer crazy not knowing what.

   “You said Regina would apologise if I did!” Hope hissed.

   Alice smiled happily at her. “Actually, I said ‘maybe’ she would.”

   “You lied?!” Hope gawped.

   “I guessed a possibility.” Alice shrugged. “And anyway. You didn’t apologise just to get an apology out of Regina, did you? That wouldn’t be nice.”

   “Of course not.” Hope said instantly, then blushed. “I just... Oh whatever! Who cares anyway. Let’s just enjoy the party.” She hesitated, then poked Alice in her side the same way she had done to Hope earlier – though maybe a little harder this time. “Move up. Lemme in.”

   Rogers and Robin did a double take, but Alice just grinned, pushing Robin along and sliding to make room for Hope to settle down in the booth beside her. The two girls ignored the baffled looks from Alice’s love and her papa, and Hope began to casually tell Alice about a boy who upset her the other day in school by pulling her hair out of the carefully done braid her mother had done for her that morning. And all while she talked, Alice listened and hummed her approval and disapproval accordingly. The two of them were close to acting like distant friends...

   Maybe Regina’s tough love and Alice’s kill them with kindness attitudes worked well for the young Miss Swan Jones.


End file.
